CHARSADDA - A ruthless man, angered by a rejected marriage proposal to his cousin, gunned down his 10 relatives including his former fiancée in district Charsadda on Sunday, exactly six-month after killing his own parents and two brothers allegedly for delaying his marriage.
According to details, accused Gul Ahmed Said, 25, along with his accomplices attacked the house of his former fiancée situated at Dado Killay in Tangi tehsil at 3:00 am by opening indiscriminate fire with his AK-47 at the family members.
Police officials said it was a pre-dawn attack, when the man stormed the house and killed all 10 family members while they were asleep, saying two children and four women were among the dead.
In the attack, police added, head of the ill-fated family Hazrat Jamal, his wife Pari, four sons Shah Faisal (28), Shah Khalid (25), Irfan (15) Abu Bakar (10) and four daughters including fiancée of the accused Naveeda (26), Sumeera (21), Kulsoom (22) and Fatima (11) were killed on the spot.
The accused Gul Ahmed Said escaped from the scene after committing the crime. Locals shifted the bodies to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Tangi for autopsy. However, they staged a protest demonstration when male doctors conducted the postmortem of the female victims due to shortage of female staff at the hospital.
Police sources said the accused had killed his parents and two brothers for delaying his marriage with Naveeda six months ago.
Hazrat Nawab, brother of Hazrat Jamal, in the first information report (FIR) at the Mandi Police Station, said his brother had refused to make marriage of his daughter with the accused that enraged the accused and he killed the entire family. Police carried out raids in several localities to nab the killer, after registering a case in the incident.
Agencies add: Police officer Shahid Khan said accused Gul Ahmed was still on the run.
Shahid said Gul shot dead his uncle, aunt and eight cousins, including Naveeda Bibi, whom he wanted to marry. In November 2014, he said Gul had shot dead his parents and two brothers for not taking his marriage proposal to his uncle. However, some other reports said that accused had murdered his parents and brothers for refusing to pay his dowry.
District police chief Shafiullah Khan said Gul was already a fugitive wanted for the murder of his parents and two elder brothers last year. His family had refused to accept a demand by the father of his then-fiancee for a residential plot as a dowry settlement.
Gulzar Khan, another police official, said that after murdering members of his own direct family, Gul became enraged at his prospective in-laws for making the demand.
Police said they had launched an extensive search, raiding three of his suspected hideouts and tightening security at entry points to the neighbouring tribal region where he may try to seek shelter.
Marriages in Pakistan are usually arranged, and often take place between cousins. Brides’ families sometimes demand a hefty dowry as a form of insurance in case the marriage ends in divorce.